Welcome to your women’s health news update. Tonight, we’ve got menopause myths (always a hit!), a not shocking finding on increased postpartum depression, and more.
CUTTING BACK PAP SMEARS // Researchers from Harvard and the National Cancer Institute used computer modeling to estimate that women already vaccinated against HPV might only need cervical cancer screening a couple of times in their lives without losing health benefits. In other words, current guidelines may be a bit overzealous. (Now as for getting everyone vaccinated…)
MENOPAUSE MYTHS // National Geographic takes on common menopause myths (#1? That everyone experiences the same symptoms.) In general, though, they report that doctors want women to ditch pricey hormone tests, shady supplements, and “natural” hype in favor of real evidence (though still needs to be studied!) and safe hormone therapy.
RESEARCH POST TRUMP NIH CUTS// Several outlets teamed up to show how one lab is like a microcosm of how Trump’s NIH cuts hurt research down the road. They looked at a breast cancer lab at Harvard that lost a third of its staff after funding was frozen, and found a director who now spends half her time looking for more funding, slowed research progress, and a missing generation of up-and-coming cancer researchers.
NO ABORTION ACCESS? MORE POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION // Researchers looked at data from over 100,000 women before the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, and over 60,000 after the Dobbs decision. They found that states with abortion bans saw a sharp rise (9%) in postpartum depression (PPD) among women in low-income communities. In other words, women who didn’t have the option to get an abortion in their home state faced greater odds of PPD.
DATA BEHIND DOULAS // Maven Clinic reports that Black women who used their platform to meet with a doula twice had a 56% lower risk of C-section, and members who chose a preferred language besides English and used the platform had reduced NICU stays. They announced the findings along with the launch of a “Clinical Research Institute” to have researchers dive deeper into their platform data.